A large work dealing entirely with practical Kabbalah and magic. Yemen, 18th century.
Specifications: 230 pages. Paper. 12×16.5 cm. First two leaves are missing. Pleasant semi-cursive Yemenite handwriting.
Content: The material is written in Arabic and a small amount in Hebrew. Includes segulot, hashba’ot, amulets, etc. Its end (100a onward) is also in Hebrew.
Unique Features: Many pages contain charts, diagrams, ktav malachim, etc.
Condition: Moderate. Professionally restored worming holes over most of the book’s leaves with damage to text. Stains. New leather binding.
Booklet of segulot, amulets, lots and prayers by Rabbi Refael Yeshaya Azulai, eldest son of Rabbi Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai – the Chida. All in his handwriting. 18th-19th century. Never printed.
Specifications: [60] pages. 58 pages with texts on both their sides. 10×13 cm, thick paper.
Content: The booklet includes prayers and segulot related to many areas, including detailed instructions for carrying them out. Some of the ideas relate to areas termed “practical kabbala.” Kabbalistic sketches within the text, tables, G-d’s names with vowelized letters, angels’ names and the like. Includes segulot for income, success, victory in court, finding a thief, toothaches, suffering, epilepsy, knowing whether a patient will live or die, hastening labor, fertility and wish fulfillment. With many ideas related to medical cures, segulot for memory and lots.
Unique features: On leaf [14], Rabbi Refael Yeshaya Azulai writes about what is recorded in the Bibliothèque Nationale , ‘ which is the National Library of France, in Paris. The Chida visited this library a number of times and wrote that it was the largest, most unique library in the world. In his autobiography Ma’agal Tov , he writes about the library and its rare Jewish manuscripts, which he also mentions in his Shem HaGedolim . The Chida received rare, special permission to borrow a manuscript for one night. He used that night to copy the entire manuscript of Rabbi Yeshaya di Trani – the Ri”d on the Torah, which he then printed in his Pnei Dovid .
The Chida generally concealed his expertise in kabbala. This expertise can only be perceived through close study of his works. In a few places, primarily in notes that he wrote to himself, there are allusions to his knowledge and use of practical kabbala. It is possible that the ideas in this booklet are based on the studies of the Chida. Never printed.
Background: Rabbi Refael Yeshaya Azulai was born in Jerusalem in 1743. He was the Chida’s oldest son. He studied with his father and was counted among the Jerusalem sages. He was sent on a number of fundraising missions, until he settled in Amsterdam. Over the years, he corresponded with his father who had a strong affinity for him. When the Chida moved to Leghorn, Rabbi Yeshaya met with his father a number of times. When the position of rabbi in Ancona opened, the community leaders asked the Chida to suggest a candidate. He hinted regarding his son, Rabbi Refael Yeshaya. The community leaders agreed, and their detailed offer, including a precise description of the role and salary, was transmitted via the Chida who did not involve himself in the negotiations. In 1788, he was appointed rabbi of Ancona, where he served until his death in 1826. He lived 83 years, just like his father. The Chida quotes Rabbi Refael Yeshaya’s Torah in his works. He printed two halachic responses that his son wrote and many of his Torah novellae. When mentioning his son, the Chida uses terms such as “my dear son,” “my soul’s friend,” “the complete sage,” “the excellent dayan,” etc. Rabbi Refael Yeshaya was an ill person, as mentioned in his correspondence with his father. In 1796, his illness became stronger and his father wrote that he was so pained that he himself became sick. However, he wrote that nothing bad would happen to him, and that he tearfully prayed for him. Rabbi Refael Yeshaya lived another thirty years after that illness. Fifty of the letters that the Chida wrote to his son were printed.
This lot includes an expert authorization regarding the identity of the writer of this manuscript.
Condition: Fine. Aging stains. Very light restorations in a number of locations. Bound in a nice, original leather binding with gold embossing.
The first sha’ar [lit. gate] of the eight sha’arim which Rabbi Chaim Vital prepared from the writings of his Rabbi, the Ari, in the order arranged by his son, Rabbi Shmuel Vital.
Specifications: [92] leaves. 23×21 cm. Small, pleasant and orderly script. Legible from beginning to end.
Content: Page 1a, introduction of Rabbi Shmuel Vital.
Page 1a-5a, introduction of Rabbi Chaim Vital.
Page 5b-91a the body of the work.
91a afterword by Rabbi Shmuel Vital.
91b, an index named “Pituchei Chotam” on the verses of the Bible explained or mentioned in Sha’ar HaHakdamot.
Unique Features: Footnotes and references to other versions are found in several places in the work. To the best of our knowledge, the index named “Pituchei Chotam” on the Sha’ar HaHakdamot is rare, unknown and has never been printed.
Background: The writings of Rabbi Chaim Vital, on words which he recorded in writing from the teachings of his Rabbi, the Ari, were passed down to his son, the kabbalist Rabbi Shmuel Vital, who arranged them in the format we have before us. It was he who established that Sha’ar HaHakdamot would be the first sha’ar, and therefore his introduction, and that of Rabbi Chaim Vital, were placed at its beginning, and they are essentially an overall introduction to all eight sha’arim.
The precise writings of the Ari which we posses are those edited and arranged by Rabbi Shmuel Vital. The Chida, in several places, warns that one should only learn according to the writings of Rabbi Chaim Vital as arranged by Rabbi Shmuel Vital. And so he writes: “I wrote in other places that the eight sha’arim arranged by Rabbi Shmuel Vital are the most genuine , as he received them from his father our teacher Rabbi Chaim Vital both in writing and orally as he studied them with him” (Birkei Yosef Yoreh Deah of Shiurei Bracha 89:6). “And fortunate is the one who succeeds in having intent according to the approach of the Ari according to the genuine writings, which are the eight sha’arim arranged in the handwriting of Rabbi Shmuel Vital, which are copied almost completely from the manuscript of Rabbi Chaim Vital, and one should not believe in abridged versions and in prayer books and prayers, G-d forbid, one who hears should hear and not deceive his soul.” ( Simchat Haregel end of limud 2).
Condition: Moderate-fair. Worming holes, mainly in the white margins. A number of leaves are detached, some with folds. Original leather binding, detached.
Large collection of about 35 silver amulets. Most are from Persia, 19th-20th centuries.
Description: Collection of assorted amulets of various sizes. Includes round, triangular, and rectangular amulets and more. The amulets have hooks so that they can be worn by a person or hung on a wall.
Unique features: Includes three amulets that were given to the same woman: רחל בת שרה [Rachel bat Sarah], Persia, 19th century. The initials of the words in the “Shir La’Maalot Esa Einay” psalm and more. Two rectangular amulets with eight ribs, apparently one for each arm, and another triangular amulet – the heart. Some bear complete G-dly names, with some with illustrations of birds, leaves, flowers, menorah, star of David and more.
Condition: Varying sizes and conditions. Overall fine condition.
